Adam Lanza, Newtown Shooter, Was Obsessed With Violence Toward Children

The Connecticut State Attorney’s 48-page report on the massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, does not reveal why, on December 14, 2012, 20-year-old Adam Lanza shot his mother in her bed before traveling to Sandy Hook Elementary, where he murdered 20 first-graders and six adults before taking his own life.

Nonetheless, it is a disturbing biographical sketch of a wretched and alienated individual. According to The New York Times, the report notes that “Mr. Lanza was treated by mental health professionals . . . but none of them saw anything that predicted his future behavior.” Despite recommendations from doctors, Lanza did not take medication nor go to therapy. Instead, he became increasingly isolated from those around him, refusing “to speak even to his mother, communicating with her only by email,” according to the paper. His outlet was the Internet:

Mr. Lanza had two videos showing suicide by gunshot, a five-second video dramatization showing a child being shot, and images of Mr. Lanza himself holding a gun to his head. He collected information on gun violence, including newspaper articles from 1891 “pertaining to the shooting of schoolchildren,” the report said. He used spreadsheets to chronicle mass shootings. He also had “materials regarding the topic of pedophilia and advocating for the rights for pedophiles.” The report made a point of noting that the materials were not child pornography, and the report did not otherwise address pedophilia.